Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle

I disliked the fact that feeding the elephants cost $5.00. But, the worst part was that , after standing in line for 1/2 hr and when getting to the front, one adult going inside the gate with a 3 and 5 yr old, was asked to pay $5.00 as well. This is absurd, At the least it needs to be written on the sign so one can decide before standing in line and getting litte ones excited about the feeding,if one wants to spend another $5.00. Not to mention that small children will not go anywhere without a guardian present. Luckily a kind man gave my daughter the needed $5.00, since she was out of cash and obviously there were no ATM's or credit card machines at that junction. If it is a matter of funds, then get more volunteers. It does not take a paid person to open and close a gate. The Seatle zoo could take lessons from the Monterey Bay Aquairum which is run by 1000 volunteers, apart form paid personel. I hope you will consider this complaint since several people were upset about this procedure besides myself.

Never have I paid so much, to walk so far, to see so little.

I used to visit this a lot 20 years ago. Sunshine, paths well maintained, exihibits looked fresh, animals relaxed and food/beverage prices affordable for the family. No more. The few animals we saw ..pace back/forth/back/forth (a form of insanity); the bear cage...ick. it is the SAME from 20 years ago. Ponies (which were cute) ..gone. Trees..not maintained so paths are more "dark" than shaded. Looks like the jungle reclaiming the sidewalk. And sodas from a machine for $5 ????? We are never, ever going back. Tacoma Zoo has poured $$ into their zoo and just received awards for that effort...and Woodland Park Zoo has a bigger fund raising machine. So someone at WPZ is spending the money on something other than new cages, clean up/refresh the penguin pool, mow the lawn, trim the trees..you know..fresh paint and some effort. It is sad to see it sliding but i think it has gone downhill too far now to get it back. Do not go.

After having been to about 7 zoos, including the Smithsonian's (which is a disappointment!) this has to be my favorite. It's beautiful, doesn't smell, and has wonderful trails to go to in order to see the animals. Plus, free maps! So people can actually find the animals! The staff was very helpful. :]

Was recently visited this zoo, while visiting the Seattle Area for the first time. We parked our vehicle in the Zoo Parking Lot, and toured the zoo for approximately 5 hours. The zoo exhibits are definatley above average, and it was a great time. However, when we left the zoo to return to our vehicle (around 2pm in the afternoon), we found the driver's side widow had been busted out, and all personal belongings stolen from the vehicle (GPS, Ipods, all of which were hidden out of site). Since it was a rental car we had the pleasure of waiting for the Seattle Police for two hours to get a police report, and while we were waiting the nice zoo employee's told us this happens 3-4 times a month in each of their parking lots. There are no cameras or security for the parking lots (you pay $5 to park and get no service). Additionally (and maybe I'm just use to the South), not a single person reported the incident or offered to help (and there was a very occupied children's park in plain view of the incident).

We live in the central U.S. and usually frequent Omaha Zoo. Everyone in Seattle told us Woodland Park Zoo was really cool. We were excited, but when we left there we were disappointed. We believed it didn't hold a candle to Omaha Zoo. We probably won't return because it was too plain. We really liked the butterfly garden though.

I liked it a lot. Very well kept up. We got a citypass, which is well worth the money.

I am just not impressed, animals are always away and nothing is going on. Very disappointed on our last visit.

Our family went and we were not that impressed. In the exibits there were not that many animals in view. There were no penguins at all. I would say for the price they charge our family would not be going back any time soon. We did however love the butterfly exibit.

excellent place in the city and separate too. I used to go once a month just to see the elephants and giraffes. Nice gifts too.